XP does not support TRIM - yeah, yeah, I know you can put SSD on it but at least I know Windows 7 and 8 can fully support it without faffing around. Adobe is stopping support for XP like CS6, more and more latest PC games are dropping support for XP. And then you find your favourite programs dropping support for XP soonish and then you find the newer hardware is not supporting XP either. I like XP but it's long in the tooth now. Already got the sense that the drip-feed on XP's life support is cutting off despite about 16 months left.

And for some saying "Most computers in the world are still using windows xp..." which is not true.

And for some saying about the missing start button and touch screen in Windows 8, well you can actually get a software to put a start button in and no you don't have to use touch screen either.

Windows 8 will not obtain lots of customers at this time,at least in recent years. The demand of windows 8 will not be too much. Most computers in the world are still using windows xp and windows 7 just start to become popular in these years. There are so many substitudes. Otherwise,Microsoft is not good at the field of smartphone. Puting products into the market of smartphone is not such a good idea.

Users need to change habits, increase upgrade costs, suffer compatibility problems, have a relatively small number of apps from which to choose, and gain no significant performance increase...and this makes Windows 8, in your opionon, "probably Microsoft’s best operating system yet."

You say it's inherently more secure. How? I suppose, given Microsoft's record on security, "more secure" really isn't saying much, but it won't be long until people start finding exploits allowing arbitrary code execution.

I am using my XP laptop for six years.
Still it's good. I looked at new ones.
However I don't find any need to buy new one,
because new ones are not any significantly faster than my six year old XP machine. Tell me why should I buy new one?

It's all Intel's fault.
I am going to buy ARM-inside machine later on!

Despite what you say about security updates to XP this version of Windows is inherently unsafe. For example User Account Control (UAC). Much of the internal parts of XP are ancient, having been inherited from Win 98 (and earlier). Some of this was sheer disregard for engineering adequately engineered improvements and much of XP is taken up with bulky legacy support for older versions of Windows. Vista was a disastrous attempt to improve security at the expense of user confusion and did little to really enhance either security or the user experience. Windows 7 is a major rewrite, giving both user satisfaction and excellent security design.
No large piece of software can ever ve bug free, hence frequent security updates. I would caution that early adoption of Windows 8 is likely to cause grief for this very reason. Windows 8 should be an option on new computers rather than being forced down the throats of those who don't either want it nor need it,
Of course Windows tablets and phones give the user no choice.

I suggest that Babbage virtualise as many systems as he can and continue to run XP inside VirtualBox / VMWare, possibly moving data to a shared drive. This should allow old peripherals to continue to be used and provides both security and backup strategies.

11 years of bug fixes and security patches. A work in progress isn't it? As a business model kind of odd, sell something then spend next 10 years sending in free fixes to the consumer, who must of overpaid at the start to finance all the ongoing labour to kep it running. What if you bought a car, then received free repairs over its lifetime, how much would the car cost at the front end?

In the case of XP, Microsoft kept selling enough new copies (at nearly zero incremental cost, translating into high profit margin) to pay for continued development/bugfixes. There was no additional cost to patch the existing install base. Opportunity cost possibly, but at the same time MS needed to defensively offer the updates.

Good point, but the analogy doesn't fit.
Physical products and software are fundamentally different, any student of software engineering will tell you. There is simply no way to sell a perfectly finished software product as of today. The best that can be offered is support afterwards.

So much about cars, but they also are recalled; 7+ million lately by Toyota.

When you buy the car, how many people have access to it? How many of them have malicious intent? Probably zero, not so for computers. There are crooks actively trying t gain access; which is the main reason for all the support.
I wonder how long your car will last in a similar situation.

When software companies start releasing products which can be broken into with a brick or a coat hanger I'll take your car analogy more seriously.

A more appropriate analogy would be designing a City and expecting it to be crime proof when you open it the public.

I don't care what kind of fancy features you've put in that City, you're going to need a police department and they'll do a fine job most of the time, even if a lot of their time is spent dealing with idiots who leave their car unlocked or wonder into dodgy neighbourhoods at night.
However you're not going to have prepared for every single scenario, especially the more determined and intelligent ones, the best you can do is react and adapt as they come.

"with hundreds of millions of computers still running Windows XP—and Microsoft keener than ever to get their owners to migrate to Windows 7, if not Windows 8—the least the firm might have done is to make the whole upgrade path a good deal easier road to travel. Odd that the brainiacs at Redmond haven't."

Of course they've thought of that! But making the process easy would cost them more money (coding) and endanger an entire swath of PC technicians that the busy or less computer savvy will be paying boatloads of money to do the upgrading for them. Microsoft is nothing if not business savvy.

Still... My old XP based laptop is finally dying. I use an iPad for all my personal computing needs, and now that tablet technology has really matured, I'm looking forward to getting a windows 8 device. Maybe in a year, when the major bugs have been worked out.

I will keep Windows XP SP 2 or 3 for as long as I can. I will fight to the bitter end, like the Jacobites of The Fifteen or The Forty-Five, only a Culloden might force me to recognize Windows 7 or 8. And I won't even touch the Hanoverian Internet Explorer, I will be loyal to the Stuarts, i.e. Mozilla Firefox...

I don't see any reason to upgrade computers running XP. It's not free, and involves a lot of hassle, learning and device driver issues. XP is supported until 2014 and who knows what will be along then?

The number two OS in the world (after Microsoft) believe it or not is Linux Ubuntu. Over 30 million users world wide.

There is a clear reason why people are switching to Ubuntu. Very stable, none of this "fatal error" crap. And so far (touch wood) no need to worry about viruses. Most importantly - it is free. Yes totally free. Today, just about every firmware provider has recognised Ubuntu Linux as a solid product in th industry. As such you can get firmware for your printers, webcams, etc, etc for Ubuntu Linux. There is even a version of Skype for Ubuntu Linux, and Mozilla Fire Fox, Adobe PDF viewer writer and the list goes on and on. Basically everything you can get for MS Windows is also available for Ubuntu Linux ..... and don't worry about losing compatibility with upgrades (unlike the new Windows version 8 or apple OS upgrades).

There is a full open office suit with Word Processors and Spreadsheets etc that are fully compatible with Word, Excel, etc (all free). The open office suit has some functions that are not identical to Word and Excel but the feel of the programs and the robustness of the software is simply reliable.

Ubuntu has already released a whole new version of its operating system that shows an upgraded UI from a Windows Style UI to an 'iPhone' style UI. I'm not the biggest fan of the new Ubuntu UI, so I keep using its older version, no big deal.

In essence, don't waste your money and certainly feel confident that the Ubuntu Linux operating system supported by the Canonical Company will offer something way better.

As a side note, unlike the Windows OS.... or Apple OS, on Ubuntu you get the Software Centre where people put up some of the most amazing software just like the iPhone app store. Some free software, some paid - but always exciting what new things people are doing on Ubuntu Linux.

Having used Ubuntu for a while on an old laptop before I could afford a new device (which shipped with windows), I can say that, for all but the most basic tasks, Ubuntu (like any Linux distro) has some significant compatibility issues. There are workarounds, but the learning curve can be quite high, and the workarounds are often wonky.

I still like Linux and the idea of being able to infinitely customize my device (and I love command prompt interface; call me old school) but there are important reasons people don't switch. Not the least of which is that most people will stick with what the manufacturer has preinstalled - usually Windows - and a computer running Ubuntu isn't much less expensive than one running Windows.

"Basically everything you can get for MS Windows is also available for Ubuntu Linux"

That is simply not true. And there are still plenty of hardware issues: it is a common site at tech conferences for Linux notebooks to fail to work with an external video device such as a projector. With the various fights over the frontend and the rise of Android, Linux is becoming less relevant for desktops.

As I said "Basically..." I find it hard to believe that a projector can't work on Ubuntu only because a projector operates as a monitor and Ubuntu handles multiple monitors. hhhmm come to think of it, I connected my Ubuntu to a projector and had no issues.

I too have found various issues with Ubuntu Linux - it's not perfect. For example, Apple refuses to make a linux compatible version of its itunes - Ironic as both Apple and Linux use the same basic kernel programming process. But some clever geek developed a linux software call iFuse which allows me to connect up to me iPhone without jailbreaking the phone and down load my photos. Also the Ubuntu online community are amazing at sorting me out back when I had some issues.

Perhaps some times you find Ubuntu "wonky", perhaps it is only an older version. Consider this: My girlfriend had a her computer crash. After losing all her info on the hard drive she also found out that she lost her MS Windows license (the sticker peeled off) and it was going to cost her $80 (excluding MS Office) plus uploading costs. I installed Ubuntu version 10 along with openoffice for free and she doesn't appear to know the difference (for her day-to-day work). Also she appears impressed that she doesn't get pestered to upload the latest patch or update her anti-virus all the time (no extra costs for anti-virus software) - or MOST IMPORTANTLY she is not worried about internet sites infecting her computer. AND !!! the machine appears to run a whole lot faster and smoother. Apparently MS Windows like to collect all kinds of crap and keep running through it, slowing down your machine.....

Ubuntu's adoption of Open Office was probably because it was the only reasonably stable alternative to Windows Office product. Unfortunately, it is now hopelessly out-dated and still lacking adequate compatibility. Ubuntu should offer a fork for LibreOffice which is now efficient, tidy, and easy to use.

Absolutely right.
There is no professional quality graphics software for for Linux. No, Gimp really is not professional quality replacement for Photoshop by any stretch of the imagination. No equivalents for Illustrator, Dreamweaver or InDesign. Flash is a swear word for Linux users. Not one of my, or my son's, PC games is available to run Linux.
Linux is mostly good for office work/admin (OpenOffice, LibreOffice etc.) Internet, email and so on. But this isn't exactly taxing. It is next to useless for professional level graphics work, CAD, games etc.
If you are new to it and you want to make some changes in set-up or add new hardware you can confidently look forward hours of head scratching and time wasting. In the area of setting up and hardware, every version of Windows has it beaten by a mile.
My experience of Linux users mirrors my experience of homeopathy users (career reality denialists par excellence) - basically if you have a hard time with it or it's total crap and wasted weeks of your life then it must be the user's fault; or the criticism comes from someone who is accused of never having used any flavour of Linux. It couldn't possibly be that Linux, of whatever flavour, has simply been overhyped and its numerous user-unfriendly faults conveniently forgotten or presented as technical features.
If only I'd taken the time to use Linux I couldn't fail to have appreciated it's obvious charm blah blah.
Except many of us have used it many times over the years (we aren't all computer illiterate) and really haven't detected, let alone appreciated, any of its not-so-obvious charms.
It's a computer operating system, and not particularly user friendly. A bit like a motor car from 1910 - if you want to race it you need to take your mechanic with you.

I'm currently running 64-bit and 32-bit Windows 7, and a couple of versions of Windows XP (32-bit Pro in English, and Home in Italian). I can do practically anything with them, run any software, and they don't crash and rarely if ever hang. Windows 7 is as stable as a rock and an idiot could set it up. It detects almost any hardware you care to connect to it without problem and installs the drivers automatically. And a network couldn't be easier to set up. I honestly can't say all this of any Linux distro I've tried in the last 10 years.

Dear Sir,
the main reason for the new user interface is to re-educate all Microsoft Windows users so they get accustomed to Windows Phone 8.
Since a lot of people do not have a choice in their personal computer operating system software they also have no choice in the user interface they have to use. If they use a Windows Phone 8 like user interface on their every day computer the resistance to use it on a smartphone or tablet computer will soften.
That way Microsoft will try regain their lost ground on mobile devices.
So the new UI is not about ergonomics but about market share on phones and tablets.

My word, people. Everyone is complaining about the new UI, when for $5 you can download Start8 from StarDock and bypass the Modern UI almost completely if you configure it to do so. I upgraded for $15 last weekend and with an SSD, the speeds are phenomenal, and with Start8, I get a Windows 7 style Start menu and no hassle. It's just Windows 7 without Aero Glass and it's extremely fast.

I'm highly annoyed by the assumption here that the new User Interface is an upgrade. There is no evidence of improvement! Touch Screens are not user friendly for serious work because they take your hands away from the keyboard. The mouse isn't great either, but at least it is closer to the keyboard and takes less body motion to use. Like the re-vamp of the user interface in Office 2007, I think Windows 8 will be hated by most users who gain nothing from a changed interface.

I run it for every day work now, and really it IS an improvement. Application switching and running side by side is definitely improved, and there are actually standardized shortkeys for things you use a lot.

This "tile" thing sounds a lot like the intent of the old "ActiveDesktop".

I didn't care about it then, and I still don't. For the problems I actually care about solving, it does precisely nothing. But then, I don't use my PC to "consume" entertainment or for social media updates...

I've always recommended Windows 7 as a proper successor to XP for stability, performance, and familiarity. XP, bless it's imaginary heart, is really showing it's age when less and less of my peripherals have drivers that work on it. The last straw was when I tried to get a PCI card with USB 3.0 ports to work. Two hours of frustration later and I realized the time had come to move on.

Windows 8 seems like nothing more than Microsoft's usual exaggerated response to competition. They see Apple and Google offer an OS that is unified looking across platforms, so they do the same. Time will tell if it works out, but I've already had many people swear it off the same they did with Vista. For myself, I remain open to opinion. My big fear is that it will be oversimplified, and so when something goes wrong it will be more the hassle to repair.

The problem is with USB not Win XP. I recently installed a PCI USB3 card on my son's XP Pro PC with no issues at all. It works perfectly. But you might have issues where the USB2 drivers installed to make the USB3 backward compatible conflict with the existing USB2 drivers for the on-board USB2 ports.